Founder left 'numb' after wildlife centre is refused

Plans for a £2m animal centre have been refused by council bosses, throwing the future of an existing wildlife facility into doubt.

The Long Acre Wildlife Hospital would have been built on 27 acres of land at Kirtling near Newmarket, to support vulnerable animals from across Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex and Norfolk.

Founder Sue Stubley submitted plans to East Cambridgeshire District Council for a larger complex after running the Suffolk Hedgehog Hospital out of her home in nearby Ousden for 18 years.

"I'm absolutely gutted and I don't really know how to feel, I just feel a bit numb at the moment," she said.

Planning officers acknowledged there was "a lack of these types of facilities" in the area and agreed there was a "need for one".

But they said the project was "unacceptable" and recommended it for refusal.

The committee said it believed there was "insufficient justification" for a site to be built on land off Water Lane, Long Acre, and feared it would result in "significant harm" to the area.

Concerns were also raised over the potential for "noise and disturbance" to nearby residents - and whether Stubley would be able to finance the project.

At the meeting, nine councillors voted to refuse the plans, while three were in favour.

Planning committee chairman Bill Hunt said the "emotional pull" of the proposed hospital had created a "dilemma" for councillors.

"However, we are here quite clearly to uphold the council's regulations," he added.

The plans were first recommended for refusal last year, before Stubley went back to the drawing board and submitted new proposals.

Fifteen people had objected to the project, but 267 people had voiced their support, while a petition calling for the plans to be approved gained more than 8,000 backers.

Letters of support had also been submitted by vets and other wildlife hospitals and charities, including the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.

"We addressed all the concerns, so I was relying on it going through this time and I was hopeful I had answered all their questions," she said.

"We did a complete new set of plans and got a new team on board, but it's just not been enough, so I don't know where I go from here."

The team has cared for as many as 1,000 hedgehogs a year at the Suffolk Hedgehog Hospital since it opened in 2008 - but lack of space had begun to take its toll, Stubley said.

Last October, she told the BBC she had "about 22 hedgehogs in the kitchen, 20 in the lounge, tiny babies in my bedroom, a fox in the shower, and a dove in the bath".

She said the new hospital would have been able to accommodate about 500 hedgehogs at any one time, as well as other animals.

But she said she now feared for the future.

"It has absolutely, 100% taken over my life, so I'm honestly not sure what I will do because we cannot sustain where we are," she said.

The council said it sympathised with Stubley - but defended its decision.

"Our overarching aim is to provide the best service it can for residents and our local environment," a spokesperson said.

"We love wildlife, and it is widely known we have several policies in place to help protect and secure its survival.

"However, when it comes to regulatory issues, such as planning, we have a duty of care to follow statutory legislation, local adopted policies and guidance."

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.